by "RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht" (ramblininexile)
Published 01/19/2017 at 22:19
by "RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht" (ramblininexile)
Published 01/19/2017 at 22:19
Tags: Agnes
; tech articles but not really
STARS: 11
The aluminum trim panel had almost all the paint missing from the insets. So, first step was to remove what was left. A little light steel wool and lacquer thinner later, it looked like this:
Then the application of masking tape...
...and then the cursing when I realized the heat gun had gone missing. Why was this a problem? Well, aluminum hates paint and likes to shed it. To get “normal” paint to stick, you have to use self-etching primer, which is acid. I would have to mask every. single. little. U-shape. There are over 150 of them. Ha ha, no. The alternative is to use a paint which sticks to aluminum natively.
Something like this:
It gets chemically active when heated, cures very slowly on its own if ever (heat hardens it), and when hot is suited to baking onto metals of all kinds *including aluminum*.
So, anyway, shop heat gun missing, one heat gun borrowed from work and some application in the dark later...
Beginning to remove the applied paint (before heating) with Q-tips and lacquer thinner. More flexible process than masking everything, but almost as tedious.
At any rate, 26 Q-tips later, I’d removed all the paint I didn’t need, and I went over the whole thing with heat - no points lower than minimum 220F. They recommend an oven bake (multiple, actually) of 300F+, but that wasn’t happening on the car. Besides which, the heat gun air was graining the anodizing slightly in places and was supposedly >500F.
Swanky.
I did get something else done on Monday, or Day Of No Heat Gun. See, the oil pressure light was on. That is a Bad Thing, so I pulled the pressure switch and hooked up a gauge like so:
Oil on the horn is from the capillary coming out of the back of the gauge while running. Derp.
With gauge connected, I had 55psi at idle.
So, no issues there, then.
Anyway, the lesson to learn here is that if you have an aluminum grill or other trim with black accenting like on many 60s cars, just use grill (propane variety) paint. It’s chemically similar to gun paint, won’t bake off in the sun, and will work fine. There are also trim paints that would stick, but they probably don’t stay soft as long, which is a bonus for this kind of thing.
"crowmolly" (crowmolly)
01/19/2017 at 22:26, STARS: 0
That would be an absolutely brutal masking job. Nice work! Almost motivates me to start restoring some badging I have laying around. Almost .
"RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht" (ramblininexile)
01/19/2017 at 22:28, STARS: 0
It wasn’t the easiest Q-tip job in the world either, I’ll give you a clue. The work is far from being perfect, but the stuff comes off *pretty* easy with a lacquer thinner swab and looks good enough for now at the least. Now I need to wipe the whole thing in a protectant to brighten it up a bit (mostly the metal), but the paint kind of needs to set for several days first.
"19JRC99" (19jrc99)
01/19/2017 at 22:42, STARS: 0
I mean, I was 13 when we sold it, but neither Dad nor I ever bothered with that crap on our Fairlane. Knew a guy who had one and he said hand painting it was a total pain in the ass.
"RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht" (ramblininexile)
01/19/2017 at 22:46, STARS: 0
Well, you know how it is. If it had been evenly faded I wouldn’t have cared so much. If it had all been *gone*, I wouldn’t have cared as much. But... there were sections kind of washed off and sections intactish - it looked TACKY.
It, to borrow a Britishism, got on my tits, so I decided to figure out how to redo it, and I did.
"19JRC99" (19jrc99)
01/19/2017 at 22:50, STARS: 1
Heh, here’s how the ole’ Fairlane was. As you can see, most of it was gone.
(GODDAMMIT PAST ME, WHY DID YOU HAVE TO FAIL THE 8TH GRADE?! YOU’D BE DRIVING IT NOW!)
"RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht" (ramblininexile)
01/19/2017 at 22:53, STARS: 0
:’(
It’s not too late to find another one, though the prices are going to start creeping away any day now. They’ve already gone Full Retard for anything 60s Chevy.
"19JRC99" (19jrc99)
01/19/2017 at 22:56, STARS: 0
With my truck, the Camaro, and the Chevelle, I don’t have any space. With the hunt for the Bronco, I may have even less soon. Also, I’m broke as hell. Being 17 sucks. Besides, I still talk to the current owner.
"RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht" (ramblininexile)
01/19/2017 at 23:05, STARS: 0
Well, you have more cars than I did at 17; you’ll probably be able to manage when the time is right. Heck, I’ve been wanting one of these Galaxies since before I was 17 and only just got one.
"Seat Safety Switch" (seat-safety-switch)
01/19/2017 at 23:07, STARS: 0
It has never occurred to me that high heat enamel would bake itself well onto aluminum with the aid of a heat gun. Nice tip, and it has given me some evil ideas.
"RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht" (ramblininexile)
01/19/2017 at 23:11, STARS: 0
I went off tips for using Aluma-Hyde, which is nearly identical stuff but sold as a finish for gun parts.
"19JRC99" (19jrc99)
01/19/2017 at 23:25, STARS: 0
Well, the Camaro and Chevelle are my grandfather’s. The only vehicle that’s truly mine is my Dakota. Dad and I just keep those two at our house, since Pappaw doesn’t have room for them.
"CalzoneGolem" (calzonegolem)
01/20/2017 at 09:58, STARS: 0
they probably don’t stay soft as long
( ° °)
"RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht" (ramblininexile)
01/20/2017 at 10:10, STARS: 1
Quiet, you.